Santa Cruz a Stochastic Dynamic Model of the Behavioral Ecology of Social Play

1 Play behavior has been shown to occur in a surprisingly diverse range of animals, and yet relatively few details are known about the purpose of play in development, or the evolutionary history of play (Burghardt, 2006). This model uses the assumption that social play is an adaptive behavior, as described by Burghardt (2006), to focus on play's contribution toward the development of skill and how this skill development affects an individuals fitness. This model does not focus on any one species directly, but rather takes a general view of play as a fundamental behavior of social animals in general. Behavioral models such as this model (SDP) have been shown to be effective tools for inquiry about a diverse range of behaviors by allowing behavioral ecologists to think more deeply about many of the factors contributing toward specific behaviors (Mangel & Clark, 1988). This model suggests patterns of skill development associated with social play and proposes fitness relationships of skill development through time.